English 137
Essay
Luke Biersmith
10/24/13
Paradigm Shift Analysis: Music and Its Effect on Culture
In society, many different events, movements, and overall changes greatly affect
people’s beliefs, practices, and culture. Over the years, there have been many movements that
have changed culture, for instance, the quest for independence during colonial times, the civil
rights movement, the women’s suffrage movement, and a host of other examples that would
make this introductory paragraph very long. But when I think about why culture has changed so
much in the past hundred years, I tend to think of the counterculture atmosphere in the 1960’s,
and one of the main driving forces behind that: music. Music is certainly such a popular form of
art, and while many people believe it can’t truly change the way a group of people think, I
believe that it was one of the driving forces behind the counter culture movement, and more
specifically, the change in behavior from that point on.
The 1960’s were a much different time than now, and it was especially different from
where society was before that decade. With the Vietnam War disastrously declining in
popularity, and the rough conditions back stateside for certain groups of people (i.e. Civil Rights
Movement), there tended to be a widely held attitude, especially amongst young people, that
there needed to be a change in society. While many people took to the streets to peacefully
protest during these times, one of the big factors that was a driving force for change was the
music world. Music during the counterculture took on a whole new face, and was quickly
sensationalized due to bands such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and Jefferson
Airplane. Music prior to the counterculture took on a look of a more classical, and calming sort
of theme. But due to the introduction of the electric guitar and the deeply influential lyrics of
some bands, music and society was changed forever.
English 137
Essay
Luke Biersmith
10/24/13
The sixties witnessed intense upheaval. As Bob Dylan eloquently stated in 1964, “The
times, they are a’ changing” (Dylan). The Vietnam War and the rights of women and minorities,
the political turmoil of the 1968 presidential election, changing sexual attitudes, increased drug
use, and radically different styles in clothes strained not only the country as a whole but also
individual families. “Children and parents found themselves disagreeing over many areas of
everyday life” (Batchelor, Introduction). Thus, a generation gap ensued; the “baby boomers”
distanced themselves from their parents, and contributed to the growth of the emerging antiestablishment movement. The counter-culture, driven by the rebellious nature of its
participants, was fueled by music. It was music that united those disgusted with the social aura
of the fifties and the Vietnam War. Music exposed the distaste young people had with their
government. It represented their social opinions and feelings. Music also embodied the
psychedelic drug use that was a trademark of the counter-culture movement. It changed the
social structure of the sixties in a way no one could have ever predicted. It was music that
changed America.
The fifties gave the world rock’n’roll. Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, and Elvis Presley
introduced rock’n’roll to the world, a genre dominated by teenage affections and a violent back
beat. The genre originated in the 1940’s and 1950’s in the United States, though it soon crossed
the Atlantic and dominated popular teenage culture in Britain. By the end of the fifties,
however, “rock’n’roll lost some of its initial shock value” (Buskin). This would all change,
especially in the United States. A group from a town called Liverpool in Britain, known as the
Beatles, exploded onto the popular music scene in America with their arrival in the United
States in 1964. Their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show launched Beatlemania and the
English 137
Essay
Luke Biersmith
10/24/13
beginning of the, “British Invasion” (Pierce). The “British Invasion”, a term invented by radio
announcers and journalists, was an era of British dominance on U.S. popular music charts.
Artists such as the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, the Animals, Gerry and the Pacemakers, the
Dave Clark Five, Herman’s Hermits, The Who, and the Kinks, “experienced unprecedented
success in America, if not to the degree of the Beatles” (Pierce). The music industry
transformed overnight, and suddenly the ever growing youth subculture dominated American
culture. The seeds had been planted for a counter-culture to emerge, though the bands of the
early sixties, such as the Beatles, were originally clean cut and well dressed. It was not until the
mid to late sixties that the music created by these artists represented the counter-culture that
created an irreparable divide between those who participated in the new movement and those
who did not.
While the “British Invasion” sparked interest in popular music to an unprecedented
degree, folk music experienced a rebirth, “as musicians moved into the forefront of the
Vietnam War and the civil rights protest movement” (Batchelor). The music created by folk
artists represented the philosophy that would soon serve as the foundation for the counterculture movement. Folk artists such as Baez, Bob Dylan, Donovan, and Peter, Paul, and Mary
crooned softly over melodic acoustic guitars and a soft, gentle back beat. Their lyrics were often
poetic and laded with symbolism. Bob Dylan was widely regarded as a poet just as he was a
singer and musician. His lyrics, “resonated with young, dissatisfied protesters of the war and
other social aspects” (Batchelor). If the seeds for the emergence of a counter-culture had been
planted by the rock’n’roll of the “British Invasion”, then folk artists watered the ground upon
which the seed had been planted.
English 137
Essay
Luke Biersmith
10/24/13
Beginning in 1966, the psychedelic revolution had begun to unfold. Psychedelic music
was inspired by the use of hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD, and was rooted in the counterculture movement. Psychedelic rock emerged as an entirely new musical genre, “glorifying drug
use in its lyrics as its sonic distortions reflected altered perceptions” (Batchelor). Glorious,
avant-garde arrangements appeared in songs such as the Beach Boys’ Good Vibrations and The
Beatles’ A Day in the Life. The Beatles, “were to become the most prominent commercial
exponents of the new genre with the release of the revolutionary album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely
Hearts Club Band in 1967” (Buskin). The album changed popular music forever, and the seed
that had been planted had grown into an adult tree. The counter-culture had been born.
San Francisco was the epicenter from which all things related to the counter-culture
were born. LSD, the new wonder drug, “caught on among young teenagers living in San
Francisco smitten with the folk rock boom happening in Los Angeles” (Buskin). In 1967, the San
Francisco “sounds” popularized by groups such as The Grateful Dead, became the backdrop to
the “Summer of Love”. The, “Summer of Love saw teenagers across the nation rejecting their
parents’ values and joining together to grow their hair long and espouse brotherly love instead
of supporting the expansionist war the United States was fighting in South-East Asia” (Buskin).
“Hippies”, as these people became to be known, transformed American culture.
The music of the sixties defined the counter-culture era, acting as its driving force and
reflecting the principles behind the movement. Music became more than an expression and an
escape. It became a way of life, a life driven by the use of drugs and resistance to the
established order. Music contributed to the growth of the counter-culture; it offered solace to
English 137
Essay
Luke Biersmith
10/24/13
those disgusted with the Vietnam War and other social aspects of American culture. The music
of the counter-culture era resonates with modern listeners, though in different form. It offers a
glimpse into the lives of the “hippies” sleeping in the mud at Woodstock; into a trip induced by
the use of LSD; into the life of an embattled poet struggling to express his disdain with the war
in Vietnam. The music of the counter-culture era changed the social structure Americans lived
in during the sixties, and it continues to influence artists of the modern age who are trying to do
the same thing.
English 137
Essay
Luke Biersmith
10/24/13
Works Cited
1. Batchelor, Bob. “Introduction to the 1960s (Overview)”. Pop Culture Universe: Icons, Idols,
Ideas. ABC-CLIO, 2011. 10/20/13
2. Buskin, Richard. “The Sixties”. The Definitive Illustrated Encyclopedia of Rock. World
Publications Group, 2006. 10/20/13
3. Dylan, Bob. “The Times They Are A-Changing”. Recorded October 31, 1963. 10/21/13
4. Pierce, Lisa. “The British Invasion in Music and Fashion (Overview)”. Pop Culture Universe: Icons,
Idols, Ideas. ABC-CLIO, 2011. 10/22/13.